Improvement in tickets



BRUSH.

Ticket.

Patented May 25,1875.

UNITED S'rnrns PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS BRUSH, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT TOTHOMAS AA. JEBB, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN TICKETS.

Speciiication'forming part of Letters Patent No. 163,732, dated May 25,1875,' application filed April l, 1875.l

To. all whom it may concerny Be it known that I, Louis BRUSH, of thecity of Buifalo, in the county of Erie and State of N ew York, haveinvented certain Improvements in Tickets, of which the following is aspecification:

My improvement relates to that class of tickets known as through orcoupon tickets which extend over two or more different lines of roads,or divisions thereof. These tickets, as now commonly used, consist of acontract, and a series of coupons, each forming a ticket good for apassage over the particular road or division thereof indicated thereon,which the respective conductors of such roads are required to detach andcancel by punching. Each coupon being good for a passage over aspeciiied portion ofthe route, great losses have resulted to therailroad companies from conductors neglecting to punch or cancel suchcoupons, and reselling the same. In case a passenger requires to stopover at any station,

the conductor gives the passenger a stop-over check, which, being issuedby the conductors only, enables the latter to fraudulently give them topersons who have not paidtheir fare, which, also, has occasioned greatloss to the different railroad companies. Another source of great lossto the railroad companies results from the facility with which apassenger, if dishonest, can leave the train at a certain point, and goback several stations on the line, and then resume his journey again,riding over the same portion of the road on the same ticket or coupon, acertain class of commercial travelers, or drummers having frequentlybeen detected in this'fraudulent use of the ticket. The substitution ofa conductor-s check for the coupon is a source of great dissatisfactionin the case of ignorant persons and foreigners, and occasions frequentdisputes between them and the conductors.

The object of my invention is to provide a ticket, by the use of whichthe above-mentioned losses and difficulties are avoided.

The accompanying drawing represents one of my improved tickets, designedas a through- 1=eket from Boston to Chicago, via Boston 85 Albany, NewYork Central 85 Hudson River,

and Lake Shore 85 Michigan Southern railroads.

, The portion marked by letter of reference A is a coupon or stub, whichis detached and retained by the agent selling the ticket, which,however, does not form an essential part of the ticket. The portion Bcontains the usual contract of through tickets, viz., the name of theroad issuing the ticket, the names of the places from which and to whichthe ticket extends, the names of the different roads designating theroute over which the ticket extends, Src. The portion C is a stripcontaining a full list of the stations on the route, indicated in anysuitable manner, either by letters or iigures, or both combined. In thedrawing the principal stations are represented by letters, and theintermediate ones by figures. D l) are coupons, one for each road,containing a certificate or statement that the particular roaddesignated thereon has carried a passenger between two speciiiedstations or places for the company issuing the through-ticket, or on aticket issued by said company, and also a statement to the effect thatthe coupon is not good for fare, or cannot be used as a passage ticket.It, preferably, also contains the terminal stations from which and towhich the through-ticket extends, being Boston to Ohicago in the ticketrepresented in the drawing. Each coupon D is, preferably, numbered tocorrespond with the number on the contract portion B of the ticket, inthe same manner as ordinary coupon tickets are numbered. Thedivison-lines between the different coupons and the rest of the ticketare perforated in the usual manner, to facilitate the separation of thecoupons. The portion or strip O in the drawing is represented asprovided with portions E E, one for each coupon, each containing astatement that the ticket is good only from the last station punched,Src., as shown in the drawing, the rst portion E Which reads as follows:Good only from the last station punched in margin below to Albany, overthe Boston & Albany Railroad.7 The portions E E are not, however,essential parts of my iinproved ticket.

My improved ticket is designed to be used as follows: The conductor,after leaving the station at which the passenger gets on, is required todetach the first coupon of the ticket, the passenger retaining theremainder, and punch the rst and last stations of his section of theroad, when the passenger does not intend to stop over at anyintermediate station. It' the passenger desires to get off at anyparticular station, the conductor punches the number designating thatstation, in addition to the rst station, canceling the ticket to thatstation. On the passenger resuming his journey, the ticket will be goodfrom the last station punched, when the same operation of punching isrepeated by the conductor in charge, and the remainder of the couponssuccessively detached as the passenger enters the cars of the roadscovered by such coupons, the passenger retaining the portions B G untilafter he leaves the station next preceding the terminal station of theroute, when the ticket is lifted by the conductor in the ordinarymanner.I

The advantages of my improved ticket over others in use may be brieflyenumerated as follows: First, the passenger is permitted to retain hisentire ticket until he reaches the end of the route, which is a greatsatisfaction, and prevents unpleasant disputes between passengers andconductors, and especially so in the case of ignorant passengers andforeigners unacquainted with the usages of railroad travel; second, thecoupons, not being passage-tickets, or good for fare, need not bepunched by the conductor, and cannot be resold by him, whereby the greatloss which results from the resale by him of ordinary coupons isprevented; third, no conductors checks being required, the lossresulting fromthe fraudulent use of such checks is prevented fourth, theticket being canceled to the station where the passenger stops overprevents the fraudulent use of the ticket for riding over the same roadthe second time, as has been done With the ordinary coupon-tickets, asabove explained; fth, as my improved ticket readily becomes a stop-overticket by the conductor simply punching the station Where the passeugergets oft', the inconvenience to the conductor which results fromseparate stop-over checks is avoided; sixth, the coupons detached by thedifferent conductors being of no use to them, the prompt return of suchcoupons to the offices of the respective roads or divisions furnishes,such roads with a voucher against the company issuing the ticket.

Although my improved ticket is described as applied to railroads, it isobvious that it is equally applicable for steamboatlines, or steamboatsand railroads combined.

What I claim as my invention is- A passage-ticket extending over two ormore lines of railroad, or divisions thereof, consisting of acontract-stub and passenger-strip, containing a continuous list of thestations on the entire route, permanently connected, and a series ofcoupons for the different roads or divisions, not good for fare, butforming a voucher for each road, or division, adapted to be detachedfrom the other portions of the ticket by the conductor, While thepassenger portions forms a continuous ticket and stopover check,substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

LOUIS BRUSH.

Witnesses:

JNo. J. BoNNER, EDWARD WILHELM.

y, f l

